St. Paul Public School’ enrollment is up about 200 students over last year — a tiny but welcome bump for the once rapidly shrinking district.

Enrollment, one of the most closely watched numbers in the district, could still shift in the coming weeks.

This K-12 increase is more meaningful than one the district boasted last year. What leaders occassionally billed as enrollment gains then just reflected better turnout than previously forecast and growth in the pre-kindergarten program. That program does not bring in the per-pupil state aid that makes enrollment such a high-stakes factor for districts.

Districts across Minnesota report preliminary enrollment numbers to the Minnesota Department of Education this week. At just shy of 38,000 students in kindergarten through 12th grade this year, St. Paul remains the state’s second-largest district.

“You always worry if the numbers will hold through the school year, but this is really good news,” school board Chairwoman Jean O’Connell said about the increase.

The state as a whole has experienced a slight uptick in enrollment in the past few years. Minneapolis has projected 400 students this year above last fall’s roughly 33,500.

In St. Paul, officials have said an influx of students and the resulting financial boost are key to the district’s Strong Schools, Strong Communities plan to raise achievement. The district has invested much energy in its enrollment push — from a three-day, door-knocking initiative involving hundreds of district administrators this August to a privately funded marketing campaign last year.

By its most recent count, enrollment stands at about 37,980, or more than 150 students more than what the district projected in the spring.

The district saw especially robust kindergarten numbers and opened seven additional kindergarten sections at schools to accommodate the increase.

“That’s the largest kindergarten class we’ve seen since the mid-’90s, and that’s good news because kindergarten is where our enrollment starts,” said Steve Schellenberg, district assistant director of research.

Some schools surpassed expectations: One year after ducking closure because of declining enrollment, Four Seasons Elementary in Merriam Park is up by about 100 students — or a third — after an all-out push that included outreach to churches in Minneapolis.

Amid new high school attendance boundaries, the district’s projections were off for a number of schools: Washington and Humboldt came well above projections, while Como Park Senior High drew almost 170 fewer students than expected.

The district, which loses thousands of students to vigorous competition from charter and private schools, suffered relentless enrollment losses in recent years. Last year, the first of the Strong Schools rollout, St. Paul celebrated a brighter picture.

Superintendent Valeria Silva touted a modest enrollment increase in her State of the District address in December. O’Connell cited an increase in student ranks in announcing a three-year contract renewal and pay raise for Silva in March.

But unlike this year’s uptick, that increase of about 60 students was in the district’s pre-kindergarten program, which served about 1,200 4-year-olds in regular education. The program, with a perennial waiting list, is funded through an operating levy the district is looking to renew at the November polls.

Officials said what they were referring to all along was an increase over spring projections rather than over the previous fall’s enrollment.

“I think we sometimes use the wrong term,” said O’Connell. “For a while, we had been coming in less than projections.”

And, after years of student losses, holding the line on enrollment was a milestone, said district leaders, who had braced for fallout from the sweeping changes under Strong Schools.

“We had projected to continue the decline in enrollment,” said budget analyst Jaber Alsiddiqui. “Last year was a big difference for us.”

The district receives roughly $7,250 on average per pupil.

Despite this year’s gains, the district’s stated goal of 3,000 additional students by 2014 appears elusive. Still, O’Connell said St. Paul, which will unveil a second phase of the privately funded “One Thing I Love” campaign this year, plans to keep up its enrollment push.

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